The Smarter Half
by Susan Hilton
Summary: Captain Picard answers a distress call from another Pakled ship, and they all discover the reason why Pakled men are so stupid. A sequel to the episode "Samaritan Snare". I also borrowed something from "The Cloud Minders".
1. Chapter 1

The Smarter Half

Chapter One

"I want to go!" Senardo, her youngest son, proclaimed loudly and angrily for the umpteenth time.

His mother, whose name was Kathara, looked down at him. His bushy eyebrows were just coming in on his forehead and he was looking more and more like his father Reginaud with each passing day. Like most Pakledian women, Kathara possessed a thick unibrow over her eyes and it was now furrowed with disapproval. She had learned to be patient with her male offspring and was aware of the fact that the males of her species had much to learn about life, the universe and the dangers of space travel, especially one as young as her nine year old son.

"I know you do, Senardo, but you are not ready. You are not old enough yet."

"What does my age have to do with it?" He asked in an exasperated tone, glaring up at her.

"Your mind has not developed enough yet, my son. Space travel is not safe. You still have learning to do."

"My mind is fine, female! I'm going and you can't stop me!"

Kathara glowered at him a bit angrily.

"I most certainly can, young man. The only place you are going at this time is your room. Try and think about why you can't go yet. You would be putting yourself in possible danger. You would be safer working in the amzite mines, but even that is risky. You will have to wait until you are fifteen for that and twenty to join your father."

"There are grown ups who are not as smart as I am!" He exclaimed defiantly.

"Perhaps, but I am not concerned about them. I love you and am concerned about you and your safety. I am telling you that you are not ready."

"You females are all alike! Too bossy!"

She grabbed him by his shirt collar.

"Listen up, little knob head! I am your mother and you will use a respectful tone with me. I am your boss." She let go of his collar and prodded him towards his room. "As per custom, until you reach your twentieth birthday, you are my responsibility. I must keep you safe from harm. Now go to your room."

Senardo glared at her for a moment, then turned and stomped into his room, slamming the door in her face. Sighing, she went back into her living room and picked up her knitting, unaware that he had just climbed out his bedroom window. He quickly ran all the way to a nearby space port that was about three blocks from their house. He planned to stow away on an amzite freighter that was bound for a neighboring star system.

Soon, Kathara realized that it was too quiet in the house. Setting her knitting aside, she went to her son's room and opened the door. The first thing she saw when she entered the room was the flapping curtains on the open window. Her son was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, great..."

"Captain," Worf announced from his station on the bridge. "I have picked up a distress call from a small Pakled scout ship."

"Let's ignore it, Worf." Riker replied instead. "In view of what happened to Geordi the first time we encountered them, they don't deserve our help."

"Will, I sense no danger from the lone occupant." Deanna added softly. "I believe she has a real need for some assistance."

"She?" Riker asked, a little surprised.

"Yes, Commander." Worf said. "The craft's lone occupant is female."

"Well," Picard said with a little smile. "Maybe we will have better luck with her. As I recall, Geordi reported that everyone on board the first Pakled ship we encountered were men."

"Yes, sir. That's true." Deanna said. "I sense mainly worry from the woman."

"Sensors also indicate that she is running out of fuel and her life support is failing." Data added from the helm. "I believe that this time, the need for assistance is genuine."

"Answer the distress call, Mr. Worf."

"Aye, Captain." He pressed a few buttons and an image of a very worried looking humanoid woman appeared on the main view screen.

"Ah, greetings to you, kind sir. Thank you for answering my call for help." The woman said, relief in her voice.

"Greetings to you, madam. What can we help you with?"

"As your sensors probably picked up, I have reached the point of no safe return to my home world. However, my main worry is that I am searching for my lost son. He ran away and stowed away on one of our ships. I have been searching for him for a few days and cannot find him. Can you help me?"

"You are running out of fuel. We can tractor your craft into our shuttle bay and our Mr. LaForge can help you with your fuel and life support problem. I think we can also help you search for your son."

"Thank you, Captain…?"

"Picard, madam. What is your name?"

"I am called Kathara."

"Very well, Kathara. Stand by while we tractor you in."

"Thank you, Captain Picard. Standing by."

They closed the hailing frequency and Riker looked surprised.

"She seemed much more intelligent than those morons who kidnapped Geordi while you were on Star Base five one five, sir. This could be interesting."

"Indeed, Number One. This could explain how those male Pakleds managed to get into space in the first place."


	2. Chapter 2

The Smarter Half

Chapter Two

Deanna, Will and Worf watched as their new guest disembarked from her shuttle. LaForge had decided to stay in engineering for now. Deanna sensed that he was very uncomfortable with the idea of meeting another Pakled and all present understood his misgivings. To say the least, his last experience with members of their race was not pleasant.

Kathara was heavy-set and a bit awkward, like most of her people, but as soon as she spoke, the similarities to the males of her species ended. She smiled cordially.

"Greetings, gentle beings, and thank you for coming to my rescue. I am appreciative."

"Our pleasure, madam." Riker responded diplomatically. "Welcome to the Enterprise-D. I am first officer Will Riker." He gestured to his two shipmates. "This is Deanna Troi, the ship's counselor, and Lieutenant Worf, our chief of security."

"Nice to make your acquaintances." Kathara looked Worf over. "Are you a Klingon, sir?"

"I am." Worf answered, pleasantly surprised that this woman got his race right.

"It is an honor to meet you, sir. I am sure that with you, security is no problem." She looked around curiously as they led her out of the hangar deck. She then turned her attention to commander Riker. He seemed a bit uncomfortable in her presence as well, so she decided to try and set them all at ease.

"It is wonderful to meet you, Will Riker." She said with a smile.

Riker smiled back nervously.

"Why is that?"

"I am glad that you have survived the many attempts to fire at you."

Deanna grinned, knowing it was a joke, and a very good one too.

"What?"

"She's joking, Will."

"Fire at Will, sir." Kathara answered. "I often wondered who Will was and why people wanted to fire at him all the time." She was glad as she saw her efforts to set these humans at ease appeared to be working.

"Right this way, madam." Worf said, briefly looking up at the ceiling, thinking that that was a very lame joke. "The captain wishes to speak with you in the observation lounge."

"Very well." Kathara responded amicably, even though Deanna sensed that she was still worried about her missing son.

The captain had asked Geordi LaForge to accompany them in the observation lounge. He was reticent to do so, but he did anyway. He had concerns that this Pakled had ulterior motives like her male counterparts, despite Deanna's assurances that their new guest posed no danger to him or to anyone else. He stood and tensed up a little as their guest walked into the room.

"Hello, Kathara. Please be seated." The captain said gently.

"Thank you, kind sir." Kathara answered, looking at them curiously. "Forgive me for staring at all of you, but...you all look malnourished. Are all of you this...thin?"

Picard smiled.

"It is normal for our species to appear this way, madam Kathara."

"I am glad." She said with genuine relief in her voice. The captain then gestured to LaForge.

"This is our chief engineer, Geordi LaForge."

Geordi nodded at her politely, a bit surprised at how intelligent this Pakled was, but he was still suspicious of her.

"Ah, yes. My husband has told me of you, sir. I must apologize for the way he and his crew treated you."

"Don't tell me, let me guess. You are looking for things to make you go. I can tell you right now that our chief medical officer can help you in that department."

"Geordi!" The captain spoke with a small amount of disapproval. The others in the room seemed quite amused. Deanna was laughing heartily. "Please forgive him, Kathara. He had a very bad time with your husband's crew."

"No offense taken, Captain. His reaction to me is quite understandable. I can assure you, Mr. LaForge, I am not going to hurt you. The females of our species are not as belligerent as the males."

"We are glad of that." Deanna said, still grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Geordi," Captain Picard addressed the chief engineer. "Please go and check our guest's shuttle and fix any problems and replenish her fuel supply if you can."

"Very well, sir. May Worf accompany me?"

"What for?"

"With all due respect to our guest, Captain, I would like to make sure the thing isn't booby trapped."

Kathara looked at him with concern.

"I am sorry you had such a bad experience with our men, sir, but I don't think you will have any problems. However, I have no objection to your Klingon friend accompanying you."

"Thank you, ma'am." He paused for a moment and sighed. "I apologize for the insult."

"That was quite understandable, Mr. LaForge. You are forgiven."

She watched as he got to his feet and excused himself. He and Worf then left for the shuttle bay.

"So, Kathara. We have never seen a female Pakled before."

"That is no surprise to me. The females of our species don't usually concern ourselves with space travel very much. Our men seem to like it and it gives them a sense of accomplishment. We build the ships and teach them which buttons to push."

"I see. How do you steal technology from hostile species like the Harada?"

"We don't steal anything, Captain. Most races we encounter give us technology because they feel sorry for us. Our men are quite stupid, as you know, so we try to make the ships as idiot proof as possible. Sometimes, though, it isn't always enough. We teach them to say they are far from home and to look for things to make them go." She smiled at amusement at the place where LaForge had been standing.

"Interesting. Do you know why your men are so intellectually challenged?"

"No, sir. We have never been able to figure that out. They start out life relatively smart, but as they age and enter the mines, they become stupid."

"What do you mine?"

"We call it amzite. It is a mineral that stops bacteria from destroying plant life on other planets. The people from our nearest neighboring star system discovered that we have a more ample supply of it than they do and they taught us how to mine it."

Picard, startled, tapped his com badge. "Picard to Dr. Crusher. Please come to the observation lounge. I think we might have found the cause of why Pakled men suffer from mental retardation, but we need your professional opinion."

"On my way, sir."


	3. Chapter 3

The Smarter Half

Chapter 3

Captain Picard stood and straightened his uniform as Dr. Beverly Crusher entered the room, carrying a medical tricorder in her right hand. She had a curious and puzzled look on her face. When the captain had contacted her, she was also curious as to what a female Pakled looked like. Geordi LaForge was kind enough to show her some pictures of the male Pakleds he had taken with his tricorder without their knowledge while he was a captive aboard their vessel, to give her some idea as to what he went through and what Pakleds generally looked like. Crusher saw that their guest did not look much different.

"You wanted to ask me something, Captain?"

"Yes, Beverly. Kathara here told us that their men mine a substance they call amzite. It is used to control bacteriological growths on worlds threatened by blight. It sounds like another substance that we use for the same purpose that has similar properties."

"We use zenite for that. Is that the substance you are referring to?"

"Yes, doctor."

"The people who taught us how to mine amzite also called it zenite. Are you saying that this material is doing some kind of harm to our men?" Kathara asked, a little surprised.

"Yes, we think so. Zenite in its raw form emits a colorless and odorless gas that retards the intellectual abilities of most humanoid species. It also makes them highly aggressive. In the case of your men, it appears that they are very susceptible...no offense."

"None taken." Kathara answered with a smile. "Those who taught us how to mine our amzite also called it zenite, but they made no mention of anything harmful."

"Who are those people?" Picard asked.

"They are Ardanans. They taught us many things and are very smart."

"If they are so smart, why didn't they mention the gas?" Geordi asked.

"I am not sure, but I think they thought that we were too dumb to understand or maybe they just didn't think of mentioning it. They strike me as snobs, and I think they thought we weren't worthy of knowing what they did."

"You are indeed a long way from home. Ardana is thirty light years from here. It's no wonder you ran out of fuel."

"I am glad that you were kind enough to come to my aid."

"Our pleasure, madam." Picard said. "We will contact Ardana via subspace and find out why they didn't tell you about the effects of zenite gas on your miners. We will ferry you and your ship to your home world if you wish and will help you search for your little boy."

"Thank you, Captain."

"You are quite welcome. Mr. Worf, please assign guest quarters for our visitor here and I will contact Ardana. I find it a little disturbing that they didn't tell the Pakleds about the zenite gas. Ardana is a member of the Federation, and it is their duty to tell those they deal with about such hazards."

"Agreed, Captain." Worf said, watching as their guest got to her feet and headed for the entrance. "This way, madam."

Captain Picard watched as the face of the high adviser to the planet Ardana appeared on his viewing screen in his ready room. The face was that of a middle-aged woman, with touches of gray in her hair. Her name was Verdania.

"Greetings, Captain Picard of the Enterprise-D. It has been nearly a century since we last heard from the Enterprise. What can I do for you?"

"Greetings to you, high adviser. I have called you on behalf of a Pakled guest we have on board. She has informed us that you did not make the Pakleds aware of the dangers of mining raw zenite. Was that an oversight on your part?"

"It must have been, sir. It has been a long time since we have had any dealings with the Pakleds. It was right after that scuffle with Captain Kirk that is in our history files. Apparently, High Adviser Plasus still didn't believe in the dangers of raw zenite mining. I wasn't born yet at that time. Is there a problem?"

"No, not really. I was just curious." Picard smiled. "I am also wondering if you still had your cloud city."

"No, sir. The antigravity units began to malfunction about twenty years ago and the city slowly descended to the surface. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and the city is still intact."

"I am glad about that. We are ferrying our female guest to her home world. She is in search of her lost son. His name is Senardo and is nine years old."

"Our local constabulary recently picked up a child matching your description, who had been beamed down from a Pakled ship. He had been wandering the streets, apparently lost and disoriented."

"Do you still have him in custody?"

"Yes. He is in our juvenile facility and is being cared for. I am glad you called, Captain. Please tell his mother that he is here."

"We will, High Adviser. Thank you for your time."


End file.
